Next Destination: Quebec City, Canada

I have signed up for the Women In Travel Summit (#WITS18) – a conference that is being held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada in May 2018. I will be staying a few extra days to check out Quebec City…obviously!

Quebec City has been on my bucket list for quite a while, now. I have traveled significantly in the Western provinces (Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia), as well as some of the Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), but I haven’t had as much of a chance to explore Ontario and Quebec. Quebec City, in particular, has always caught my fancy, with its European looking Old City – that is the sort of thing that always gets my attention!

Founded in 1608, Quebec City is one of the oldest still-inhabited cities in North America, and it also has one of the only remaining fortified city walls north of Mexico. Quebec’s Old City, within those walls, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is the main attraction of the city. There are several notable landmarks and attractions in and around Quebec City, including nearby Montmorency Falls and Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort, as well as architectural features such as La Citadelle and Chateau Frontenac within the Old City itself. Quebec City Tourism has a well-designed and comprehensive site that is going to be a huge help with my planning!

The Women In Travel Summit will be held at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, which is a gorgeous, castle-like structure in the Old City. Chateau Frontenac is one of Canada’s Grand Railway hotels, a series of luxury hotels across the country that were built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s to serve passengers on the expanding national rail system.

Chateau Frontenac was built for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and opened in 1893. Its architecture is similar to the Banff Springs Hotel, which was also a Canadian Pacific property, and opened a few years earlier. The hotel dominates the Old City skyline, particularly the Central Tower, which was not part of the original hotel; it was added in 1924.

I love the old railway hotels, and grew up admiring the Bessborough “castle” in my hometown of Saskatoon. To be honest, though, the Chateau Fairmont is probably out of my budget, and I will likely find other accommodations nearby. I am super-excited to check out the food and art scene in Quebec City, and will absolutely have to find myself an Old City tour or two…maybe I can even find a photography tour of some sort! I am in the ‘research and dreaming’ stage of planning my trip right now – and I will share my planning process in a future post – but I am super excited about this trip already!

3 thoughts on “Next Destination: Quebec City, Canada”

Have fun in Quebec and at the Women in travel summit. I even didn’t know it existed. So I learnt something new. I loved Quebec. When you go there, try to catch a free show of Cirque de soleil. As it is their hometown, the give free shows. i don’t remember exactly were it was but sure you will find information about it when you google it. it was a nice show, worth a visit.